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“You could see (Murray) dropped his shoulder a little bit,” Lee understated.

“Just playing football,” Murray said with a laugh.

As a third-round rookie in 2011, Murray battered plenty of defenders en route to leading the Cowboys in rushing yards (897), carries (164) and average yards per attempt (5.5). It was a surprising accomplishment, considering he missed most of training camp and the preseason with a hamstring injury, then had his season ended prematurely by a fractured right ankle Dec. 11 that required surgery the next day.

But he's healthy again and determined to post even better numbers in 2012.

“The sky's the limit,” said Murray, 24.

The Oklahoma alum drew comparisons to the Cowboys' two Hall of Fame runners — Emmitt Smith and Tony Dorsett — with a brilliant stretch of games kicked off by a franchise-record 253-yard rushing effort against a hapless St. Louis Rams team.

But even though that outing put him in some elite company, Murray is quick to dismiss any talk that he's on par with Smith and Dorsett.

“Those are two legends, two Hall of Famers,” Murray said. “That has never crossed my mind, to be compared with them or to have anything to do with them.”

Still, Murray is similar to Smith and Dorsett in that he's driven to succeed.

“You can describe it any way you want to describe it — mean streak, competitive spirit — DeMarco's got it,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “He's had it his whole life. He had it as a high school player. He had it at Oklahoma. It's the reason he's been so productive. He's a very mature player, and part of that maturity is the emotional maturity and understanding the nature you need to play with, the demeanor you need to play with.

“... It's a little bit of a mean streak. It's a little bit of a competitive spirit. You see it in all aspects of his game.”

Murray declined to disclose his goals for the season, but he suggested they're lofty.

“No one sets the bar higher than me,” he said.

One item that has to be on the list is to score more touchdowns. He had only two last season. As a team, Dallas had just five rushing.

“Definitely unacceptable,” Murray said. “Five rushing touchdowns in one season: For me, it's terrible. We had a couple of injuries and had some guys nicked up, but there's no excuse for that.”

Like Lee, Murray is viewed by his teammates and coaches as a player mature beyond his years. So when they hear him say five rushing TDs is unacceptable, they're confident he's going to do something about it.

“DeMarco is going to have a great year,” tight end Jason Witten said. “He doesn't carry himself like a second-year player. He works hard, he's fast, athletic, tough, smart, got some strength to him. He's going to be a workhorse, really handle the load.”

And, no doubt, inflict pain on a few defenders in the process just as he has in practice.

“I'm just trying to set the tempo right now,” Murray said. “I'm not trying to juke and shake. I'm trying to set the tone on the edge and let the (defensive backs) know there are some running backs out here that can run hard a little bit.”